Samy's Camera in San Francisco Permanently Closed

[Huss]

pet peeve.. so many people buy from places like B&H as a default as if it is the only place that sells gear. Ignoring local shops that have the exact same prices!

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Do you know the reasons? It seems ironic that with this demand for film that Kodak for one is struggling to meet, the demand for cameras and repairs cannot sustain a camera shop or make it a viable business for sale at least

Thanks

pentaxuser

Apparently, the renaissance or film alarm photography is highly exaggerated.

 

[Radost]

Ask Leica workers in how safe it is…

 

[Richard Man]

Yea, I dropped by the Leica store when I went to Chinatown. So sad.

I bought my first Leica digital, aka, the Epson RD-1 at a LA Samy's. Almost an impulse buy. Love it. Sold it to get an M8, then sold that to get an M9. Funny how the RD-1 is now a "cult classic" and still worth as much as I sold it for, ... 15 years ago now? Nuts.

 

[Huss]

Ask Leica workers in how safe it is…

Store was targeted. Doesn't matter what the neighbourhhood is. You can tell because they drove away...

Years ago, before covid and the manufactured transient crisis, I used to work across from the Century City Mall. Beverly Hills adjacent. The Rolex store was repeatedly robbed. Criminals target high value targets. Simple as that.

 

[BrianShaw]

… and then they started taking expensive watches off of people’s wrists as they waited for red lights or strolled Rodeo Drive or Melrose or Sunset or

 

[Huss]

… and then they started taking expensive watches off of people’s wrists as they waited for red lights or strolled Rodeo Drive or Melrose or Sunset or

That's been happening for at least 20 years now. Back in the day, the Westside Pavilion mall in West LA was a favourite target. People wearing bling would be followed to their cars.

 

[Radost]

… and then they started taking expensive watches off of people’s wrists as they waited for red lights or strolled Rodeo Drive or Melrose or Sunset or

Funny story. Back in the late 70s my father worked in a an embassy in Peru. Cars had no AC. So 2 people will steel your watch. One grabs the hand and defends the other takes your watch. So people started wearing their watches on the right hand. But the bandits had a solution. One guy grabs the hand and presses a lit cigar to your it. You instinctively reach with your right hand and they take your watch.

 

[Huss]

Funny story. Back in the late 70s my father worked in a an embassy in Peru. Cars had no AC. So 2 people will steel your watch. One grabs the hand and defends the other takes your watch. So people started wearing their watches on the right hand. But the bandits had a solution. One guy grabs the hand and presses a lit cigar to your it. You instinctively reach with your right hand and they take your watch.

Obviously we should start a thread called "Is Peru really that bad?"

 

[pentaxuser]

Obviously we should start a thread called "Is Peru really that bad?"

Or a thread that is called: Is Amazon the only safe way to order goods and your house the place you should never leave?

pentaxuser

 

[BrianShaw]

… and hopefully those threads will include some pictures rather than hollow promises of pictures.

 

[Moose22]

And that is based on what?!? What you had for breakfast or do you have real facts to back that up?

It specifically said that in the news article linked.

Smith said the store had been losing money for years and the lease for the building was coming up in March. “The [camera] industry in the Bay Area is slowing down, and we were feeling the effects of that,” he said. “The cost of doing business in San Francisco is also really tough.”

 

[VinceInMT]

pet peeve.. so many people buy from places like B&H as a default as if it is the only place that sells gear. Ignoring local shops that have the exact same prices!

Some of us live in places where there is nowhere local to buy film, let alone gear.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Funny story. Back in the late 70s my father worked in a an embassy in Peru. Cars had no AC. So 2 people will steel your watch. One grabs the hand and defends the other takes your watch. So people started wearing their watches on the right hand. But the bandits had a solution. One guy grabs the hand and presses a lit cigar to your it. You instinctively reach with your right hand and they take your watch.

What's funny about that?

 

[MattKing]

What's funny about that?

+1

 

[ic-racer]

San Francisco store stopped selling new gear and just rentals now since looting and robbery escalated there

Sammy's looks safe to me, at least compared to where I go to get chemistry, paper and film (insert). Almost a 2 hour drive to one of the top ten most dangerous cities, but at least they have a fence and barb wire, maybe that is why they are still in business.

I actually bought my first good SLR in San Fransico in 1973. Don't remember the name of the store, just that it was within walking distance of the hotel.

 

[MattKing]

I don't know, Bed Bath & Beyond can be deadly!

 

[AnselMortensen]

Yes, it's the "Beyond" that has me worried.

 

[reddesert]

Camera store doing a rental business closes because the rent is too damn high. People on Photrio respond by
1. blaming the neighborhood for crime
2. saying the film revival is exaggerated - ignoring that camera stores also sell and rent digital cameras and related equipment.

Neither of these is related to the facts, they are just pet topics. Next, Photrio will say that the store closed because of stand development.

 

[Huss]

Camera store doing a rental business closes because the rent is too damn high. People on Photrio respond by
1. blaming the neighborhood for crime
2. saying the film revival is exaggerated - ignoring that camera stores also sell and rent digital cameras and related equipment.

Neither of these is related to the facts, they are just pet topics. Next, Photrio will say that the store closed because of stand development.

Actually I think it was that they couldn’t handle the trauma of knowing that Leica is selling new cameras that scratch film.

 

[Radost]

What's funny about that?

I dont know since it did not happen to me it is funny. Like somebody slipping on a banana.

 

[Huss]

What's funny about that?

In Peru no-one cares what the time is, so those watches are worthless! Joke is on the thieves.

 

[Radost]

Actually I think it was that they couldn’t handle the trauma of knowing that Leica is selling new cameras that scratch film.

That is funny too.

 

[Radost]

In Peru no-one cares what the time is, so those watches are worthless! Joke is on the thieves.

Hahahhaha

 

[Sirius Glass]

OK, nothing is happening here, move on folks.